Ste. Agathe is a primarily
francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
community in the
Rural Municipality of Ritchot,
Manitoba,
Canada, located along the
Red River.
Ste. Agathe is in the provincial riding of
Morris and the federal riding of
Provencher.
History
The village was founded in the mid-19th century on one of the
Red River Trails by settlers from
Quebec named Grouette, who built a homestead on the west bank of the Red River and farmed grain in the rich soil of the valley. A dock allowed other settlers to reach the east side of the river via ferry with their grain-laden
Red River carts; a community, originally called Pointe-à-Grouette, formed around the docking point at some time before 1871.
The first mention of the name "Ste. Agathe" was some decades earlier, when the
Roman Catholic Church organized the
Red River colonies between
St. Norbert
Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem (c. 1075 – 6 June 1134) (Xanten-Magdeburg), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a bishop of the Catholic Church, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint. Norbert was can ...
and the
United States border into the Parish of Sainte-Agathe. As that
parish grew and split into numerous more manageable parishes, the parish containing Pointe-à-Grouette was renamed the ''Parish of Sainte-Agathe'' by Archbishop
Alexandre-Antonin Taché in 1873; the town adopted the name at some time after that date. A church, a school, and eventually a convent were built at the townsite.
1997 flood
It is located in the
floodplain of the Red River and, as such, has always been prone to flood damage, but none was so severe or as notable as that experienced during the
1997 Red River flood
The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached through ...
. The
ring dike surrounding the town gave out in late April, causing the town to be inundated with over two metres of water. The village has recovered; a new dike has been built
and an
interpretive centre has been created on the west side of the community.
Red River Valley Floods Interpretive Centre
. Accessed August 12, 2008.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, Ste. Agathe had a population of 643 living in 225 of its 226 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 637. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
References
External links
Ste Agathe official community website
{{MBDivision2
Sainte Agathe
Unincorporated communities in Eastman Region, Manitoba
Manitoba communities with majority francophone populations